


hey brother, do you still believe in one another

by Anonymous



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: (implied at least) - Freeform, Angst, Family, Family Feels, Gen, How do you tell your little brother you've been haunting the hero?, Hurt/Comfort, Link/Prince Sidon - Freeform, Study in grief, Video Game Mechanics, based off that one tumblr post, whatever Mipha's grace is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:06:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23340679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: "Mipha..?"The name is a wobbling, trembling little thing, shaking like pebbles underfoot as the prince of the zoras looks up at her. She knows exactly what he sees. She looks exactly the way she was the day she left- the same accessories, the same clothes, the same healing magic- unchanged and untouched by the passage of time, a price she paid with blood. She swallows, looks away.The plaza is silent, the only noise Link's steadily halting breaths and the rush of water over silver. She knows she should help him, her magic collecting in her hands and dripping down the sides, ready to help her oldest friend, and yet-She can't stop staring at her little brother.(Alternatively, the one where Link mortally wounds himself in Zora Domain and Sidon finally meets his sister again.)
Relationships: Link/Prince Sidon
Comments: 18
Kudos: 518
Collections: Anonymous





	hey brother, do you still believe in one another

"Mipha..?"

The name is a wobbling, trembling little thing, shaking like pebbles underfoot as the prince of the zoras looks up at her. She knows exactly what he sees. She looks exactly the way she was the day she left- the same accessories, the same clothes, the same healing magic- unchanged and untouched by the passage of time, a price she paid with blood. She swallows, looks away.

The plaza is silent, the only noise Link's steadily halting breaths and the rush of water over silver. She knows she should help him, her magic collecting in her hands and dripping down the sides, ready to help her oldest friend, and yet-

She can't stop staring at her little brother.

It's strange, looking at him now. He's so large, a mountain of a zora, has grown into the stubby little limbs and oversized tail she had last seen him with. Gone is the baby fat, the little teeth that had just begun to grow in, the young child who used to toddle in her footsteps and steal her trident when she wasn't looking. He's larger than her now. and when he gapes at her, she sees the serrated blades that line his gums- more dangerous than any weapon she could have possibly given him.

(He still wears that whistle around his neck. She remembers, somewhat, hearing it from where she had been trapped in Vah Ruta, alone and miserable and waiting. She remembers pressing herself against the doors leading out to the balcony and wondering why he's blowing it, wondering if he's in trouble. She hears the call everyday: loud and piercing and desperate.)

(He goes to the lake, Link had told her once, in between mouthfuls of blood as she let her magic envelop him. Every night. He blows that whistle every night so you can hear it, and know he's doing okay. That's why there's a bed at the reservoir- He sleeps there a lot.)

At that time, she had thought he was just being delirious, but now the truth of those words settle in her bones like ice. It’s been a hundred years. She had lost an entire century to Ganon, hadn't been there for her brother, hadn't watched him grow. She's stuck the way she is forever now, while he will go on without her: it's an extraordinarily painful revelation to come to. She knew, vaguely, that she was dead and gone and could never truly be alive again, but it was one thing to understand that her heart had stopped and another entirely to be confronted by everything that she had lost.

She failed them all, Link and Sidon and her kingdom, and she finds herself unable to meet her brother's eyes as she approaches, the glow from her hands casting his eyes aflame.  


Sidon makes a wounded noise at the back of her throat, and rears back, pulling Link closer and away from her. "Wait, no- sister." He breathes, and she doesn't understand why he's staring at her like that. Like she's something to be feared. She almost flinches when he makes to stand up, almost frenzied, knees scraping against the cold floor. "Please, it's not his time yet, don't take him with you- The healers can still save him, I can still save him..!"

Oh.

(She thought she knew what pain and sorrow was, watching Link's gaze soften and the corners of his eyes crinkle as he pressed a kiss against Princess Zelda's hands, bleeding out alone with the knowledge that the battle was over and lost, wandering the halls of Vah Ruta ever night for 100 long years with nothing but Ganon's Blights to keep her company, but this: this is a hot knife sliding between her ribs, straight into her heart, and she wants to weep for the sheer agony of it. Her little brother, scared of her.)

"I won't." She whispers, and her hands tremble minutely. She forces them to stay steady. "I only wish to heal him."

Sidon stares at her for one long drawn moment, muttering an "oh" that seems to sap him of all strength. He's quiet as she approaches, and this time doesn't move away when she sets her hands on Link's wounds and hum a little tune under her breath. She hears the same song echo as if underwater, the same rush of power, and the ugly cut knits itself together beneath her fingers. When it's done, she finds herself already fading at the edges, but Link is safe. That's all that matters.

Her brother looks down at the champion in his hands and takes a long, drawn out breath, before their eyes meet. She's floating a good solid foot off the ground, but even kneeling, Sidon meets her eyes with ease. She can see the bone-weary relief in his eyes, the wonder, the sorrow, can read it almost as easily as she could her own emotions. That, at least, hasn't changed.

(He has a scar on his left flipper, pale and faded with age. Such a small thing. If she had been there, she could have healed it. It is only a reminder that she had not.)

Her body flickers, and his eyes come to a rest on her hands, now nearly invisible. Her time is running out: soon she will disappear, returning only when her magic has recovered. This might be the only chance she has to say something to him.

"Sidon..." She begins, ready to apologise. (I wasn't there. I should have been there for you. I'm sorry you had to go through this. I'm sorry that you had to grow up alone. I'm sorry that I died, that I'm dead. that I won't ever be alive again.)

He lifts his head, and-

-It's like the sun has come out once again, after a century of rain- his smile is warm, and genuine, and her words die in her mouth. Sidon grins at her, and she sees the faint reflection of the little boy he used to be, the one who would sit on her lap and ask her about her day as his tail wagged slowly from side to side.

"Sister! Thank you for saving Link! I'm glad to see you're doing alright!" He laughs, and it's so warm it takes the breath right out of her lungs. She stares, wide eyed and mute, as he flashes her a thumbs up. "I should have known that nothing would have ever stopped you from helping others!"

She doesn't know what to say. That's alright though. Her brother seems to have more than enough words for her. "It's been a very long time, hasn't it? I can't wait to tell you everything that's happened! Everyone's going to be so excited, just you wait- Our dear Princess Mipha is free! And I assume you're going to help us fight Calamity Ganon?" When she nods, he brightens even more. "That's splendid!"

Her form is fading fast, but she has to ask. "...Aren't you angry?" She asks, and Sidon gives her a baffled look. "I failed to do my duty. I died and abandoned all of you."

Her brother is quiet, but only for a short moment. "No, why should I be? You were only doing what you had to! I would have done the same thing!" He looks down on the peacefully sleeping Link in his arms at that, and oh-  
That's a familiar expression.

(She used to see it every time she looked into the mirror, when Link was involved.)

Her breath leaves her in a rush, and Mipha smiles sadly: her little brother has followed in her footsteps, it seemed. She could only hope that his story had a happier ending. Even as the last of her form leaves the physical plane, she leans forward to press a kiss onto Sidon's forehead, the way she used to do when he was only as tall as her hip. He startles, and she laughs softly as she leans back, brushing away the soft blue glow she's left on his skin. 

"I'm so proud of you." She tells him before she disappears completely. The last thing she sees is the tears gathering in her brother's eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> Based off this comic: https://threefeline.tumblr.com/post/168801748172/miphas-grace 
> 
> I just... feel things about the Zora Siblings...


End file.
